The Strength of Happiness
by Little Lady Lucy
Summary: My version of the seventh book. When Harry, Ron and Hermione set out to defeat Voldemort Ginny comes as well and ends up being more important to Voldemort's defeat than anyone expected. H/G & R/Hr Rated T to be safe for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Hello readers, okay, so this is set during the seventh book. It's basically my version of the seventh book, there are a few changes, but I won't give anything away :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy._

Harry sat, his face pressed up against the window of the twins' old room in the burrow. He was staring out into the garden as heavy raindrops fell to the ground, rolling down the glass of the window and pooling in the garden. But Harry was lost in thought and saw no more of the view than he could see of his own face, pale and drawn into an expression of concentration.

Ever since Dumbledore's funeral when he had made the decision to stop seeing Ginny, Harry had thought of nothing else. He knew he needed to focus on the task of finding and destroying all of Voldemort's horcruxes but instead Ginny plagued his hours, even his dreams.

It was unfair he thought, that everyone else could go on living their lives, safe in the knowledge that he, Harry was saving them from Voldemort. Harry desperately wanted a normal life too. He wanted to hold Ginny in his arms and never have to worry about everything he cared for disappearing. And that was just it, he thought. It was likely he would die fighting Voldemort. Harry had not talked about this with Ron and Hermione, he did not believe they would take it very well, but for some reason, though it was not as if Harry wanted to die, the thought did not bother him as much as he thought it should. Perhaps it was because he felt as if his whole life had been leading up to this. If he thought about it, really he had always known it would come to this, just him and Voldemort fighting to the death.

A knock on the door roused him from his thoughts. "Harry? Harry, It's Hermione, can I come in?" He nodded, then realising she could not see him through the door he called out. "Sure Hermione!" The door squeaked slightly as the bushy haired girl entered the room. She looked somewhat the worse for wear. Her eyes had dark circles beginning underneath them and she did not look as if she had brushed her hair recently. Instead she appeared to have tied it up with a ribbon a few days ago and then promptly forgotten about it. Recently Hermione had not been sleeping well, Harry heard her in the night moving around her room, but whenever he or Ron asked her what she was doing she simply replied, "Preparing." Neither of them knew what for.

Though Harry worried about Hermione, it did not compare to Ron, who could spend hours talking to Harry about her. It seemed that only Ron and Hermione themselves were oblivious to the feelings between them. Harry suspected Mrs Weasley was quite aware of this fact. Often these days she would deliberately shuffle people along the dinner table in order to make Ron Hermione sit together. As for himself, Harry had no problem with them getting together, especially if it meant they stopped fighting.

Hermione crossed the room quickly and sat down on the old bed in the corner of the room. Her foot was tapped quietly on the wooden floor and Harry turned. "What is it Hermione? There's obviously something on your mind." she smiled weakly and sighed, "I really need to know when we are planning to head off looking for horcruxes." "Oh." He hadn't been expecting that, and he hadn't really decided yet. The thought of leaving Ginny and making it official that he had to fight Voldemort didn't make Harry particularly impatient to leave. "We have to stay for the wedding, but I guess… after that there isn't anything keeping us here." Hermione sighed, "I think you know very well what's keeping you here Harry." "Yeah? What's that?" he replied. "Oh Harry, we can all see how much you miss Ginny…" Harry closed his eyes, was it really that obvious? "It's for her own good though. I couldn't live if I knew she was hurt because of me. I love her too much to let that happen."

Hermione's expression was no longer one of sympathy, she wore a frown and frustration was written clearly across her face. "But don't you see Harry!" "See what." He snapped, immediately regretting it. Hermione was only trying to help, but he was sick of people telling him he'd made a bad decision. He wanted Ginny to be safe, it was as simple as that, why couldn't anyone accept it? "Harry? Are you listening?" "Yes Hermione, sorry about that." Hermione began again; she looked as if she had been building up to this for a while. "Harry, you said _you _couldn't live if she got hurt for being with you, but what if she doesn't care. Ginny loves you so much you know, you staying away from her is hurting her more than Voldemort could ever hurt her. You're hurting her heart."

"But, Hermione! Ginny doesn't understand! You don't understand, no one bloody well understands! I'm going to die!" Harry was yelling by now and didn't notice the flash of red as a girl ran away from the door which stood slightly ajar, sobs echoing down the hall. "Ginny doesn't know what she wants, she doesn't want die now. Before she has time to grow up, get a job, fall in love…" Harry looked down at his shoes, staring at the grey laces of his joggers while trying desperately to stop the burning tears that were threatening to roll down his face.

When he finally looked up, Hermione was still sitting beside him tears now falling freely from her eyes. "Oh…" she started. "Harry, I'm so sorry. I know it's hard for you, but that's what we're fighting for, the chance to have happy lives and a future. You won't die." She said, her voice somewhat strained. "I know you won't. Ginny needs you too much, and we'll all be with you the whole time, Ron and I as well as the whole Order." Harry listened, his eyes focused on a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes poster on the opposite wall. "Yeah, I guess it'll be fine." He had a sudden desire to be alone, Hermione really didn't comprehend the scale of what they were about to do, and how could she know that he would survive? "Thanks Hermione." He said, trying to hint that she could leave. Thankfully she seemed to understand as a moment later she stood, "I'll tell you when dinner is ready then, alright Harry?" "Yeah, thanks."

Hermione stepped back across the room, closing the door behind her and Harry lay back down on the bed, letting out a deep sigh. It had been a long day; Ginny had ignored him all through breakfast, her cold shoulder nearly breaking his heart. Ron had taken to giving him encouraging slaps on the back and a thumbs up every time he noticed this. He was of the opinion that his little sister had no place going with the trio to do anything dangerous, and so he was all behind Harry on his decision to break it off. The rest of the family however were all being rather cold towards him. They loved Ginny dearly and couldn't bear to see her the way she was at the moment. Even Harry himself couldn't deny she was not her best. The hours had dragged as Mrs Weasley had put everyone to work. She was currently obsessed with the upcoming wedding between Bill and Fleur and talked of nothing else but table decorations and dresses. However the wedding was not really a thing of joy for Harry. To him it was another reminder of the life he could not have and of his impending departure; after the wedding he would no longer have an excuse to hang around.

Beyond the garden the sun was sinking slowly beneath the horizon, bathing Harry's room in a warm golden light and casting shadows across the floor. He closed his eyes and rolled over slightly, the fading light making him suddenly sleepy. He would just lie here for a while, he decided as drifted off to sleep.

Hours later Harry woke to a growling stomach and complete darkness. He reached out to his side, attempting to locate his glasses. When he had put them on his face, and the world slid back into focus, he looked over at the clock. 2:00am. No wonder he was hungry, he had slept way past dinner. Softly he slipped into a dressing gown and padded towards his door. As it opened it squeaked slightly and he had to quickly oil the hinge with his wand. A muttered "Lumos" lit his way as he tiptoed down the hall to the stairs. Taking extra care with the fifth stair, which creaked, he made his way down to the kitchen. Rubbing his eyes slightly from sleep he set about making a pot of tea. The kettle began to whistle, and he quickly silenced it, sitting down at the Weasley's long wooden table and letting the hot liquid calm his mind.

Lost in thought, it took him a while before he heard footsteps entering the room. He turned slowly to see Ginny entering the kitchen. He watched as her slim figure moved across the floor while her white nightgown fluttered a little in the night's breeze, and he could not help but admire how beautiful she was. She had always taken Harry's breath away, even on a Sunday afternoon in the holidays when she would sit and read a book by the window in some old track pants. Ginny had tiptoed across the floor and was busy hunting through the kitchen cupboards before she even noticed Harry's presence, but he didn't mind. It was enough for him to sit and watch. Taking in every movement as if it was the last time he would ever see her. When she did notice, she let out a little "Oh" of surprise and quickly looked towards the door as if she were hoping to avoid the awkward situation. Harry sighed, he wished they did not have to do this, that they could just be together.

Deciding it could not hurt for them to have a chat he beckoned to her just as she was about to slip back out the door. "What is it Harry?" She asked, her voice somewhat steely. "I don't want you to miss out on your midnight snack on my account." He replied. Ginny seemed to be contemplating leaving anyway, but eventually she gave into her hunger and brought a plate of biscuits over to the table, sitting down across from him. After almost five minutes of silence, Harry decided something was definitely wrong. "Ginny?" He said tentatively. "Ginny, did I say something?" "Say something! How should I know? I'm obviously not intelligent enough to _understand_." "Oh, Ginny. I didn't mean it like that at all." Harry wondered how Ginny had heard him in the first place, but that didn't matter now. What mattered was making the tears that were welling up in her eyes go away. "It's like you don't even think I'm capable of making my own decisions Harry. I know what I want, I want you." A little taken aback by her forwardness, it took Harry a moment to answer, but when he did it was with strength in his voice.

"Ginny, I love you, but I can't let you get hurt. It would rip me apart if Voldemort ever got his hands on you. So we can't do this, we just can't." "I can't believe you Harry! Have you ever thought about what I want? How much it might hurt me not to be there with you when go off hunting Voldemort or whatever you're doing. How much I'll worry about you not knowing if I'll ever see you again. Do you even CARE?" As she finished, Ginny fled up the stairs. Her face was red from yelling and tears were falling thick and fast from her honey brown eyes.

Harry closed his eyes. That went badly. He stood slowly and put away his teacup and Ginny's biscuits. Then, turning away from the room, he too ascended the stairs. Despite his firmness on the issue, something in Ginny's fiery rage had opened his eyes a little. Maybe she was partly right, after all Dumbledore had always said love was important. Harry wondered what advice he might have given him now.

He reached his room and pushed open the door. If he lay down now he might get another couple of hours sleep, but somehow he didn't think that was very likely, thoughts about Ginny were swirling around in his head and instead of closing his eyes he simply lay awake thinking about what had been said in the kitchen.

_A/N: Well, that went quite differently to how I thought it would. Harry was going to get a lot angrier with Hermione, but for some reason it went all sentimental. Ah well, I shouldn't fight it. Please review if you have time, I'd love to hear your thoughts._

_Love Lucy_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello again, sorry for the wait, new chapter for you! Enjoy._

_Also, thanks to: starlitenite28 for adding this to their story alerts._

Harry awoke to the sounds of an explosion in the entrance hall below him and it was immediately clear that Fred and George had arrived from their shop. Most of the Weasley family was slowly trickling into the Burrow ready to attend the wedding. Groaning, he sat up in bed, it would have been nice to stay asleep a little longer, especially after his eventful night. However he was not so lucky, just as he was about to lower his head back onto the pillow his door burst open and Ron came running in.

"Harry! Harry mate, you've got to get up and come see this!" "See what?" asked Harry groggily reaching on his bedside table for his glasses. "It's Fred and George, they just came in and they've put some kind of quick sand in the entrance. Mum's really angry though, they won't tell her how to get rid of it." "Really?" said Harry chuckling. "Sounds very Fred and George." "Yeah. Come on!" Ron called over his shoulder as he ran back out of the room.

Slowly he pulled himself out of bed and got dressed in a pair of jeans and green t-shirt. He was somewhat unsure as to whether he wanted to go downstairs, Ginny having left rather uncivilly the night before, but eventually his hunger overcame his desire to stay holed up in his room all day and Harry headed down the stairs to the dining room. When he reached the landing however; his progress was halted by a near lake of brown sand that spanned across the Weasley's entrance hall. Harry had trouble fighting the laughter that sprang into his throat as he descended the rest of the stairs and jumped over the sand and into the dining room, but he thought Mrs Weasley might not appreciate it.

Looking around the room Harry noticed that Ginny was not downstairs yet and he was silently thankful thank he would not have to endure the glares that were sure to come soon. Seeing an empty seat next to Ron and Hermione he took it, grabbing a spare plate as he did so.

Ron looked up at him as he sat down but even as Harry called out a rather loud "Good morning, Hermione." She continued to ignore him rather pointedly. Harry supposed she must have already talked to Ginny this morning and with a sigh he turned instead to Ron. "Morning mate." Ron grunted, his mouth full of bacon. Even though her head was turned away Harry could feel Hermione roll her eyes. "Yeah, morning Ron."

Breakfast passed without much excitement, Mrs Weasley was once again discussing plans for the wedding. Apparently today she was going to make them all put up tables for the wedding guests to eat on in the back yard. There was a collective groan from around the table as she announced this and the twins were sending Mrs Weasley mutinous glares.

The annoyed silence was broken however when Ginny came walking down the stairs, seeing the quicksand she jumped on to the banister and slid gracefully into the dining room. "Nice sand, guys." She said giggling. Fred and George stood up and bowed rather clumsily whispering, "Our pleasure." Laughing again, Ginny joined the table.

For a moment it seemed as if she had forgotten entirely about last nights events, sitting across the table from him she chatted animatedly with Bill and Charlie who had also arrived to get ready for the wedding. However when Mrs Weasley saw Harry leaning over to get the butter for his toast and asked Ginny to please pass it to him, Ginny's demeanour changed. "I think that he can get it himself, mother." She said, before turning her back on him.

Looks of confusion were exchanged around the table at this but thankfully Hermione cut through the silence before any questions could be asked. The tension that had been building up was released and the chatter around the table resumed, now accompanied by the clatter of plates as Mrs. Weasley began to clear the dishes away into the kitchen.

When she re-entered the room she sent them all outside in pairs to set up the tables for the wedding. Harry and Ron were assigned the task of assembling the tables, while Fred and George levitated them into position. They stood up together and trailed out the door and into the garden.

They found the tables beside Arthur's shed and set to work putting each of them to together, the early morning frost that glistened from every surface turning their fingers numb. The tables were nothing special, but on the other side of the lawn where they were being arranged by Fred and George Harry could see Hermione Concentrating as she turned each table a delicate gold with a flick of her wand. Beside her, Ginny her wand let out a steady stream of golden bubbles floated upwards to hang in the old oak trees. She looked gorgeous and so carefree, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes and Harry couldn't bear to think that he had caused it. He loved Ginny more than anything, but Hermione had been right. Harry smiled, Hermione usually was right. He had to let her be with him, she was in danger anyway and perhaps he would be stronger with her by his side. After all, he couldn't shield her forever. "Today." He whispered, "I'll tell her today."

Ron, who was complaining rather loudly about his mother, brought Harry back to the task at hand. "I mean it's the _holidays_ for Merlin's sake. Can't she give us a break? And where are Bill and Charlie? They could do this so much faster!" Harry chuckled at the expression on his friends face. "Bill and Charlie have gone to Diagon alley to buy new dress roes, so they're busy. Besides, it's Bill's wedding, do you want to assemble tables at your wedding?" Ron blushed and said sheepishly "No."

Once all the tables had been positioned with a few of the pond, and were sparkling gold in the fresh sunlight, Mr Weasley appeared at the back door calling them all in for lunch. The boys, Hermione, and Ginny sat down in the dining room and ate their soup quickly under the watchful eyes of Mrs Weasley. She had taken to asking stragglers to help her with things, and none of them wished to be left alone with her. I did not take long for them all to finish and run back out into the sunshine, leaving Mrs Weasley to wonder what had gotten into them all.

Once outside Fred and George called every one over and announced that they were going to play Quidditch with a new set they had bought with their joke shop earnings. Almost everyone was enthusiastic and after much pleading from Ron even Hermione agreed to play despite her protests that the ground was clearly much safer. Bill and Charlie, who had finished their shopping, also joined the group and they divided up the teams four a side with Harry and Ginny playing seeker for their respective teams.

They all kicked off, the warm air blowing in their faces as they rose, all traces of the cool morning having left. As soon as Fred called the beginning of the match Harry began to circle the game, searching for the snitch. Ginny had a similar tactic and they appeared to think alike and were able to predict the others' moves. This uncanny similarity caused the game to drag on for hours, the other being there to stop them each time one of them got close to the snitch. The game only ended when the sky was tinged with a deep purple and the wind that blew in their faces as they soared around became so cold they could not feel their fingers plastered to the smooth wood of their brooms.

Harry finally cornered Ginny after the game. He hung to the back of the group heading inside hoping to catch her alone and tell her about his decision. Luckily just as Fred and George were stepping through the door, they turned and asked Ginny if she could put away all the brooms. Harry smiled, now was his chance. He walked up behind her, admiring how gracefully she moved even as she lifted all of the Weasley's old brooms and his Firebolt onto her shoulder and walked across the grass to the broom shed.

"Need a hand?" He asked as he caught up to her. "What." She replied, turning to face him angrily. "Am I not capable of doing this myself either?" "Ginny, please." Ginny simply stared at him and there was a silence that stretched on as the sun began to sink below the hills in the distance. After what seemed like eternity Harry spoke again, his voice rough. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I'm sorry for everything." Ginny continued to watch him, the brooms lying forgotten beside the wooden shed. "I should have listened to what you wanted, not just what I wanted for you. I can't keep going like this, avoiding you when this may be the last time I ever see you again. I love you so much Ginny."

Harry looked up from the ground to see Ginny burst into tears. "Does this mean you're going to stop being such a prat and let me in on what you, Ron and Hermione are doing?" She asked. "Yeah." Was all that Harry could get out before Ginny's warm lips were pressed against his with all the joy she felt at being back in Harry's arms. It only took Harry a moment to respond just as fervently, pouring his sincerity into the kiss. It was a long while before they parted and Harry felt Ginny lean her head against his chest. Reaching out his hand he slowly began to stroke her hair.

The last of the warm sunset had sunk beyond the hills as Ginny finally looked up at Harry. "I love you too." She whispered, and they headed inside arm in arm.

_As much as I hate it when people beg for reviews, writing my own story is really making me see what it's like, and I'd love it if someone would share their thoughts with me.  
Love Lucy_


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